Habs Game Report: Montreal comes up short (thrice) against Senators

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators scored three short-handed goals and romped to a 5-0 win over the Canadiens on Saturday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Andrew (The Hamburglar) Hammond made 30 saves to boost his record against the Canadiens to 3-0. Hammond has allowed only four goals in those games.

Strategy backfires: Give the Canadiens credit for trying something new on the power play, but it didn’t produce the desired result. Montreal sent out four forwards and defenceman Andrei Markov after Erik Karlsson was sent off for tripping. But the Senators took advantage of the new formation to open the scoring with a short-handed goal at 12:02 of the first period. Mark Stone led the Ottawa rush and got half-step on Tomas Plekanec. That allowed him to put the puck in front for Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who slipped in behind Markov. Pageau has six goals and two assists in 10 games against Montreal.

Déjà vu all over again: The Canadiens’ second power play also ended in disaster. The Senators were penalized for having too many men on the ice midway through the second period and Ottawa scored another short-handed goal at 12:01 for a 2-0 lead. On this occasion, Markov was unable to stop Dion Phaneuf’s clearing pass, but he did slow the puck’s progress. Curtis Lazar caught up with the loose puck and beat Ben Scrivens on the breakaway.

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Gallery: Habs vs. Senators

The Ottawa Senators took on the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Ontario Saturday March 19, 2016. Senators Cody Ceci tries to get away from Canadien Max Pacioretty during first period action.Tony Caldwell/Postmedia News

The Ottawa Senators took on the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Ontario Saturday March 19, 2016. Senators Jean-Gabriel Pageau tries to tip the puck past Canadiens Ben Scrivens during first period action in Ottawa.Tony Caldwell/Postmedia News

The Ottawa Senators took on the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Ontario Saturday March 19, 2016. Senators Jean-Gabriel Pageau gets a short handed goal against Canadiens Ben Scrivens during first period action in Ottawa.Tony Caldwell/Postmedia News

The Ottawa Senators took on the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Ontario Saturday March 19, 2016. Senators Jean-Gabriel Pageau gets a short handed goal against Canadiens Ben Scrivens during first period action in Ottawa.Tony Caldwell/Postmedia News

The Ottawa Senators took on the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Ontario Saturday March 19, 2016. Senators Andrew Hammond makes a glove save against Canadiens Tomas Plekanec during second period action in Ottawa.Tony Caldwell/Postmedia News

Not again: Ottawa scored a third short-handed goal at 3:18 of the third period with Alex Chiasson getting an unassisted goal to give Ottawa a 4-0 lead. The Senators lead the NHL with 15 short-handed goals. Ottawa’s third goal came at 2:05 of the third period while the teams were playing 4-on-4. Marc Methot started to take the puck behind the net, but he flipped it back and went in off the back of Scrivens’ leg. Mika Zibanejad completed the scoring at 17:52 of the third period.

No love lost: Tempers flared on several occasions, but there was only a handful of penalties. There was a fight in the first period and Chris Neil had the edge over Canadiens’ Mike Brown in a brief encounter. The Canadiens were 0-for-4 on the power play and gave up the three shorties, while Ottawa went 0-for-2.

Drawing a crowd: This might have been a nothing game between two teams that are going nowhere, but the attendance was 19,772 — the second-largest turnout here this season.

Coming attractions: The Canadiens return to the Bell Centre to play the Calgary Flames on Sunday (7 p.m., Sportsnet, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) and the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. The Canadiens are in Detroit on Thursday and then wrap up the week Saturday with a home game against the New York Rangers.

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